Shahram Amiri had "left American soil" on and was on his way back to Iran via a third country, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

Before he left the Iranian interests section of the Pakistan embassy in Washington, where he had sought refuge, he gave an interview to Iranian television denying he had gone to America voluntarily, as Washington claims, Telegraph.co.uk reports.

According to Press TV, abducted Iranian scholar Shahram Amiri says he was kidnapped by the US security agents in collaboration with Saudi forces, while he was on a pilgrimage in the holy city of Medina in June 2009.

The university lecturer said he was kidnapped on June 3, 2009 in a joint operation by terror and kidnap teams from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Saudi Arabia's Istikhbarat.

"I was abducted in a joint operation by terror and kidnap teams from the US Central Intelligence Agency and Saudi Arabia's Istikhbarat. I was kidnapped in the holy city of Medina," Amiri said in his first video message.